A Single Moment
by Astral Fire-Bird
Summary: When we're young, carefree, and innocent, the idea of our lives changing forever in just one moment had never crossed our minds. (Permanent hiatus)
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

Rain fell outside, steadily and heavily. I could see the lightning flash through my eyes, and I curled up tighter around my kits. Thunder roared, making me flatten my ears.

The rumbling never stopped. Was it really thunder? I've never heard thunder this strange before. Why was it getting louder, like it was rushing at me?

Then it happened, so suddenly that I felt my heart skip a beat. Water surged into the den, filling it up, blinding me and trickling into my nose and mouth. Panic rising in my heart, I thrashed out blindly and hit something hard.

It seemed ages later until my head finally broke out of the water. I drew in a deep, shuddering breath and splashed blindly until my paws hooked onto something.

I pulled myself closer to whatever it was and blinked my eyes clear of water, raising my head weakly. What I saw widened my eyes to their limit.

Water, raging and splashing, flowed almost endlessly from the direction of the river. Bits of wood and leaves flew by me. Almost all of the dens were completely submerged, and I was clinging onto the warriors' den, which was high on the back wall of the camp.

Jaws clamped themselves softly onto the scruff of my neck and lifted me out of the water. Surprised, I looked up as I steadied myself, and saw that it was my mate, Foxfoot, who'd helped me up. I thanked him and turned to watch as the water surged higher and higher. It looked like everyone was out...everyone...

Wait a second. My kits...they didn't seem to be here. I turned to look at the nursery, seeing a flash of dark ginger, and I gasped - Blazekit was clinging onto a small piece of wood, and I watched, stunned, as the wood hit the side of a den and spilt - Blazekit slipped, mewling, under the water.

"Roseleaf, we'd better leave - Roseleaf? What are you doing?"

I'd jumped into the water, swimming frantically against the currents to where Blazekit was, and dove under.

I saw a small, dark shape and I instantly reached out to grab it with my paws - but the texture wasn't right, this wasn't Blazekit, but a piece of driftwood!

Desperate now, I felt along the sides of the submerged den. My paws immediately found my kit, and I clamped my jaws around the motionless figure, and pushed up, my lungs and muscles screaming.

"Foxfoot!" I tried my best to call to him, but my meow was weak and strained. He saw me anyways, and quickly reached out to grab Blazekit. I grabbed onto the den top, which was now half submerged.

"Foxfoot," I panted. "Stay here and get the kits when I come up with them."

"But you're tired, and...Roseleaf..." I saw the fear and caring in his eyes. He was scared I wouldn't return, scared that nothing would go back to what it was.

"Trust me, please." I stretched up and gently touched my nose to his, and dove back under the water.

My kits would be near the nursery. I paddled forward, straining to see in the dark, surging water. It felt as if ten moons had passed before I'd finally managed to struggle to the nursery. My head broke through the surface of the sloshing water, drawing in rattling gasps of air and water.

A faint mewling reached my ears, and I turned in the water.

Nightkit and Ripplekit were safe, as far as I could see. They were trapped on a large, thick log, which was lodged firmly between two trees. Ripplekit was unmoving on the log, her tail and leg soaked in red, so unnatural and ugly against the silvery blue of her fur. Night was holding onto his sister, large golden eyes filled with fear.

I rode the current to the log and sank my claws deep into the soggy bark. Nightkit turned to me and stopped wailing, but the fear didn't leave his eyes.

"Nightkit, take your sister over here! Mother is going to take you to safety." I tried to give him a friendly smile, but it felt too forced on my face, and it ended up being a bitter grimace.

But the little kit obeyed, dragging his sister to me. I tried to ignore the scent of blood on Ripplekit, and picked my kits up by their scruffs, and paddled as hard as I possibly could to the warriors' den, where Foxfoot was waiting anxiously, reaching out already to take the kits.

_Just a little further,_ I kept repeating tiredly in my head. _Just a little further, and my kits will be safe. I'll have Fernwhisper take a look at Ripplekit's injuries, and everything will be fine._

With my last ounce of strength, I pushed myself forward and handed the kits to Foxfoot, who placed them next to him and quickly grabbed me, hauling me up onto the den, which was submerged completely by now.

"You were so brave! I was so worried there. Don't ever do something like that again." My mate kept licking me, the fear in his voice fresh.

I purred. "I won't, Foxfoot. You have my word." I reached up to touch his nose, but he suddenly froze, rock still.

"Roseleaf! Behind you!" Foxfoot screamed, trying to get me to move. I turned around, and saw - a huge wave of water, surging toward us. I tried to move, to run, to escape, but my legs were tired, and wouldn't obey me.

"Take the kits, hurry!" I screeched, shoving them to their father. "Run, run!"

"What about you?" Foxfoot cried, scooping the kits up in his jaws. "I can't leave you here! I won't!"

"I'll be fine. Foxfoot...as a favor, please take care of our kits." I smiled at him. "Watch them grow into big, strong adults."

The water surged around me, and I turned to look at Foxfoot one last time.

"Thank you," I whispered, and the water pulled me into its depths. My mate wore a mask of horror.

"ROSELEAF!"

* * *

**A/N: I apologize for any grammatical or spelling errors in this. I'd had this idea stuck in my head since yesterday and I had to write it. I hope you enjoyed, if so, please leave a review, even if it's what to improve on. Reviews, favs, and follows encourage me to write and lessens the chance of my fanfic dying (due to procrastination).**

**Thank you for reading!**


	2. Lowell

**Apologies for any mistakes. I reread everything, but I couldn't find any errors, but that doesn't mean there aren't.**

**And I'm in love with the name Lowell - it means "young wolf". I LOVE the name, it's just...familiar for some reason.**

**Disclaimer: The Erin Hunters have prevailed in winning the ownership of Warriors...but I, the great Astral Fire-Bird, will succeed in winning next time!**

**Next time! Next time! Next time!**

* * *

"Ow, ow, ow! That hurt!"

I glared down at my brother. "You mouse-brain, of course bashing your head on a tree would hurt. What, did you expect a nice, warm tickle?"

Nightpaw grunted and rubbed his head with his paw. "I wasn't trying to hit my head...I wanted to do what Mistpaw did."

"Mistpaw is an older apprentice, and she has more experience than you." I made a mental note to tell the she-cat to stop setting a bad example for the young tom.

"But, but!" Nightpaw stood up suddenly, his eyes shining. "To become a leader, you have to be able to do everything!"

I sighed and cuffed him on the head gently. "Leaders don't have to be able to do everything. Do you see Shardstar running up trees all the time? I've even heard that he can't climb trees."

Nightpaw simply shrugged and was about to say something else, but was interrupted by his mentor.  
"Nightpaw, it's your turn! You against Sedgepaw! Claws sheathed, please!" Emberflame called over to us. Nightpaw nodded and bounded toward Sedgepaw.

I watched Nightpaw overpower my best friend after a violent struggle. Sedgepaw was never very good at fighting, but she was definitely better than I was.

"Good, good! Next, Ripplepaw and Thornpaw!" I gulped. Thornpaw was a good fighter for his size.

I padded over slowly and faced Thornpaw. He wore his usual sneering face that I've grown to hate. He was an arrogant, annoying furball, and seemed to always be on bad terms with me for some reason.

He lunged, paws outstretched, but I scrambled to the side. He landed with a whump on the ground, barely missing me.

Thornpaw growled with frustration and leapt at me again. I met him head on, and we tumbled to the ground, rolling over and over. I was mainly on the defensive side, trying to shove him off of me. Thornpaw, on the other paw, was doing his best to pin me down while I struggled underneath him. After a while, I found my legs pinned down and Thornpaw's triumphant face shoved up in mine. I cringed and looked away.

"Good job, both of you. Thornpaw, you need to work on your agility a little, so you don't go tunneling into the dirt every time you jump. Ripplepaw, you've gotten better, but need to work on your strength more."

My mentor, Heathervine, stood up, flicking her tail. "I think that's enough for today. Let's all go back."

Everyone got up and began heading back to the camp. I got up, brushing dirt off of myself. Sedgepaw waited for me patiently. I smiled a little, glad to have such a great friend.

There was something strange at the camp. Cats were whispering nervously to each other and glancing over at the leader's den. I cocked my head to the side curiously. "What's going on?"

Heathervine turned to look at me. "They're saying that an outsider came randomly into the camp and wanted to see Shardstar. I don't know what he wants, but we shouldn't trust him. Knowing Shardstar, he'll let him stay in the camp if he wanted to." The golden brown she-cat snorted, flicking her ears. "Why don't you two go get something to eat? I'm going to go see what's going on."

"Okay." I meowed, as Heathervine bounded off to the leader's den. She happened to be the deputy of BirchClan and a close friend of Shardstar. Sedgepaw and I headed to the fresh-kill pile and chose our meal. As I tugged the feathers off of a still-warm sparrow, I caught the sight of my father.

He was looking as tired and as worn as he usually was. He sat by the warriors' den, curled up.

"He used to be really loudmouthed and a little arrogant," Snowsplash, one of the warriors had told me. "But he was a good cat...ever since your mother passed away, he'd never been the same."

If my mother had never died, I wondered. Would I still have caring, loving parents? Ones that cheered me on during training and loved me? I've seen Sedgepaw constantly get groomed by her mother and father. She'd complained that it was annoying, but I'd like the feeling of a warm tongue on my fur, gently cleaning me - I wanted to feel loved, even if it was just for the briefest moment.

Finishing my meal, I swiped my tongue around my jaws and got up. As if on cue, Heathervine - who was looking thoroughly annoyed and displeased - and Shardstar padded out of the leader's den, accompanied by a tom.

His fur was sleek and groomed, unlike most of the loners and rogues that I'd encountered near the Twoleg dens. He wasn't bulky and muscular, nor runty and slim, but almost perfectly in between. His tail, long and sleek, was tipped with bright white fur that stood out in contrast to his dark tabby coat.

It was strange, but something about him made my heart flutter nervously.

With a graceful leap, Shardstar jumped on top of his den and let out a loud yowl, signaling a clan meeting. I stretched before heading to gather with the rest of the clan at the base of the den.

"As most of you know, a cat by the name of Lowell has come to the camp. He has discussed his reasons with me." Shardstar glanced over at the cat named Lowell, and he nodded. Shardstar turned to face the clan again and continued.

"Lowell is here to exterminate a threat in the clan. He claims to be able to seek out a cat that will destroy all of the clans."

Yowls of shock and disbelief ripped through the crowd, and the clan burst into conversation.

"...trust an outsider?"

"...threat!"

"...don't believe a word that cat says."

"...throw him out! He's lying!"

Shardstar raised his tail for silence, but it was not until much later when cats settled down to listen to the leader.

"I have decided that Lowell will stay in the empty den in between the warrior and apprentice dens. We'll see if he does detect the threat. In the meantime, please welcome him.

Clan dismissed."

As soon as Shardstar hopped off of the leader's den, cats dispersed and broke out in low chatter.

"...won't be sleeping tonight."

"...what's he thinking?"

"You know, Ripplepaw, this reminds me of that old nursery tale the elders sometimes told us," Sedgepaw meowed as we headed to the apprentices' den. "Remember? A strange cat comes to the clan, and he ends up as a murderer. The clan was destroyed. They stopped that story, I think it was inappropriate for the kits..."

"Let's hope that it's not going to happen with Lowell." I stretched my jaws in a wide yawn, and curled up on my nest. "'Night, Sedgepaw."

"'Night, Ripplepaw."

I drifted into an uneasy sleep.

* * *

_I shivered. Why was it so cold? And wet?_

_I tried to open my eyes, but my eyelids seemed stuck together. I could hear quiet, whispering meows._

_Why couldn't I move and open my eyes? _

_That was when I felt the horrible pain in my leg and back. I felt it - claws and fangs of cats, fire and stones from earth._

_I wanted to scream. It hurt, it hurt! But something trapped me - I couldn't move, stuck in a corner of my own mind._

_Why was it like this? What's going on?_

_"She'll have a scar..."_

_What? Who? Wake up! What's going on?_

_A wave of exhaustion and nausea swept over me. No - I need to get up - don't-!_

_I let out a tiny sigh as I drifted into darkness._


End file.
